


Wizards don't care about other people

by Molly_Hats



Series: Kinda-Sorta Writing Teamups [8]
Category: Dimension 20 (Web Series)
Genre: Canon Non-Binary Character, Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, Elf Culture & Customs, Fictional Religion & Theology, Gen, Paladins, Redemption, waxing poetic about deities
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-13 14:15:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29279805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Molly_Hats/pseuds/Molly_Hats
Summary: Aelwyn takes the oath of redemption, with Cassandra as her patron.
Relationships: Cassandra & Aelwyn Abernant
Series: Kinda-Sorta Writing Teamups [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1039215
Comments: 3
Kudos: 21





	Wizards don't care about other people

**Author's Note:**

  * For [supercantaloupe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/supercantaloupe/gifts).



> Dedicated to supercantaloupe for answering all my asks with (tbh kind of concerning) speed and enthusiasm.

Cassandra is everywhere, Kristen says. There’s no place where you must worship them.

Well, Aelwyn is a wizard and a high elf. She was raised on ceremony, on ritual, on _this is how it is done, I read it from a good authority_. She’s working on it, but some standards die hard.

(Besides, says a little voice inside that sounds like her father, making it a Ritual means you’re putting in effort. Means you’re not one of those fools too stupid or too lazy to find anything on your own, demanding answers and power from some greater being.)

So she walks into the woods, quiet and unsure. She’s only performing reverence, but in her defense, she never learned it. Anything worth learning is gained through intelligence and study, honing arcane acumen.

That’s what her parents said.

She emerges in a clearing and breathes in sharply despite herself. The sky is a swirling purple studded with stars, a spinning galaxy defying all logic. She blinks, and it settles, like the afterimage of the sun, into a small figure beneath the dark sky. 

They approach slowly, a gentle smile on their face (Kristen’s face, formed out of shadow and starlight). Unlike Kristen, though, their hair is long and loose, waving in a false wind, ending not in strands but fading into the darkness as a whole, a cascade of light borrowed from and dutifully returning to night. 

“Hello, Aelwyn,” Cassandra says. They smile, mouth closed, but warmer than any Aelwyn can remember. They look over Aelwyn, eyes expectant. 

“I…” Aelwyn’s voice falters, her prepared speech dissipating under those eyes. 

They’re not judgmental. On the contrary, the sheer depth of understanding and openness, what might become unconditional care...Aelwyn feels light-headed. The vertigo she’s caught in feels like seeing all her failures and knowing they don’t matter, knowing that she is loved, feels like Adaine’s hug after months alone. 

“I want to help people,” Aelwyn says instead, the words slipping out unguarded, unrestrained, unfamiliar in their guilelessness yet true. “I...I want to be better.”

Cassandra hums, a noncommittal sound that nevertheless carries the harmonies of multiverses. 

“You don’t want to be a cleric,” Cassandra says at last.

“I—no,” Aelwyn says. “I’m sorry—“

“You’re figuring it out.” Cassandra smiles. “I of all goddesses won’t fault you for that.”

“I’ve been researching,” Aelwyn says, and suddenly realizes what a profoundly Wizardly approach to a spiritual multiclass that is. “I...I know you don’t have paladins.”

Cassandra laughs. It’s Kristen’s laugh spilling over from something deeper, barely perceptible, an underwater current making ripples on the surface. “I have one cleric. I haven’t thought about having paladins.”

Aelwyn feels her feet beneath her, breathes deep. “I’d like to be your first paladin.”

Cassandra stares into Aelwyn’s eyes, and Aelwyn feels herself shrinking, not in fear—well, maybe in fear—but not because it’s a threat or an attack but simply beyond her, swallowing her, rendering her tiny and enveloping her in So Much. She’s in the heart of the vastness of all that is unknown, a country she’s only brushed the edges of in her studies. Without a map, surrounded by swirling mists. She wants to claw her way out, push the mystery aside with Knowledge and Logic and quick words, wall herself up where the mist cannot find her. But more of her wants it. Welcomes it. 

This is what she wanted, what she signed up for.

Cassandra smiles, and the swirling mist recedes. “You want to carve a path of redemption?”

Aelwyn nods, clutching the book with the ancient oath written in it. 

Cassandra extends their hands, and Aelwyn, hesitating, takes them.

“I, Aelwyn Abernant, swear to uphold the Oath of Redemption. Violence shall be my last resort. I shall recognize the innocence within all, and strive to turn others from the dark path life sets them on. I will live in patience and respect the journey’s length. I will sharpen my judgement to see who can be saved, and know when justice must replace mercy.”

“And I swear to support you.” Cassandra’s hair swirls. “In spell and word, I swear to assist you in your journey, Aelwyn.” They smile as they let go with one hand, reaching up to cradle Aelwyn’s cheek with the other. “My paladin.”

Comfortable warmth floods Aelwyn, a security and joy she can’t remember feeling. A comfort in unknowing, an excitement in the journey to understanding ahead, a delight in mystery. Not a mad scramble to the solution, a panicked, desperate need to _know_ , to _control_ , to _understand_ to protect herself. She sighs despite herself.

“Thank you,” Cassandra says, lowering their hand.

“Thank you,” Aelwyn replies, and it’s automatic politeness but it’s not just that. She’s not ready to think about everything it is.

“I will be with you, Aelwyn,” Cassandra says. 

“Your attention won’t be that divided,” Aelwyn says, shocked the dry humor slipped out.

Cassandra laughs again. “I suppose it’s good you’re not expected to proselytize, then.”


End file.
